I've recently upgraded VMWare Fusion 1.1 to 2.0 on an iMac 24" and am having issues mounting an external NTFS hard drive on the guest Windows XP OS. I believe I'm having a similar issue to the guy who posted at http://communities.vmware.com/message/964735#964735, but I'm hoping to have a better outcome. 
In an attempt to be a polite questioner (hopefully I'll succeed to some degree), here's the information I can provide, as recommended from the HOWTO: ask questions document:
Build number. You can find this information under VMware Fusion > About
Version 2.0 (116369)
What sort of Mac you have (e.g. Mac Pro, MacBook, etc.)
iMac 24" with Finder 10.5.6 and OS X 10.5.5
What the problematic behavior is and what causes it
Failure to connect a NTFS USB hard drive using the Connect icons at the bottom right of the Fusion 2.0 guest OS window. Fusion appears to be allocating the drive (in that it disappears from the Finder desktop), but the XP guest OS does not seem to be performing the autodetection that used to occur when I was using Fusion 1.1, even after rebooting and waiting for hours after the drive is connected.
If there are any conditions where it does work
I've not discovered any scenarios under Fusion 2.0 that are successful. The USB Devices panel in the Settings seems to be in order: 'Enable USB 2.0 Support' and 'Automatically Connect USB Devices' are enabled, as well as the drive I'm trying to mount (Connect USB Devices > Seagate RSS FreeAgentDesktop enabled). The ability to view and access the Mac's shared folders is successful, and the dismounted (from Fusion) NTFS external drive is fully readable from the Mac OS Finder.
How often you see the problem (e.g. all the time, sometimes, rarely, etc.)
This issue has been consistent since the upgrade to Fusion 2.0. I occasionally saw it occur in Fusion 1.1 on flawed XP installations, but then there were more substantial problems occurring in those installs.
Has it previously worked in the same setup (e.g. same virtual machine, same computer), and if so, what has changed since then
The only changes I can detect are (1) upgrade from Fusion 1.1 to 2.0, and (2) new install of guest OS, not a migration of an existing guest in v1.1.
How experienced with OS X you are, and comfortable you are with the command line (things can go a lot faster if you know what you're doing, but if you don't say, we have to assume you need lots of hand-holding)
Lightly experienced with the Mac OS Terminal command line, rather experienced with MS-DOS, but totally ignorant if there's a proprietary VMWare command line.
If you're having problems with a guest, include:
Guest operating system e.g. "Windows XP Pro (German)" or "Ubuntu 7.04 64-bit". Be sure to include details (e.g. Home/Pro/Business/Ultimate/etc., 64-bit vs 32-bit, language, etc.) when applicable.
Windows XP Professional (English), 32-bit, SP3 (v5.1, Build 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236), installed with 'Share Home Folder' option enabled. The install is rather baseline, with all current service packs/patches from Microsoft, plus AVG Free 8.0 antivirus.
Whether you have installed VMware Tools, and if so, which version
Yes, default install available with Fusion 2.0, but I'm not certain on how to obtain version number. Its Signing Time is September 10, 2008, 7:55:01 PM, if that's any help.
Whether this is a Boot Camp virtual machine
No, this was a fresh install of the XP guest OS.
Where the virtual machine came from (created in Fusion, created in some other VMware product and copied over, imported from some other format, etc.)
The virtual machine was created anew in Fusion after the 2.0 upgrade.
I hope this information is sufficient to make some headway on resolving this obstacle. Thanks for your time and advice.
In an attempt to be a polite questioner (hopefully I'll succeed to some degree), here's the information I can provide, as recommended from the HOWTO: ask questions document:
Build number. You can find this information under VMware Fusion > About
Version 2.0 (116369)
What sort of Mac you have (e.g. Mac Pro, MacBook, etc.)
iMac 24" with Finder 10.5.6 and OS X 10.5.5
What the problematic behavior is and what causes it
Failure to connect a NTFS USB hard drive using the Connect icons at the bottom right of the Fusion 2.0 guest OS window. Fusion appears to be allocating the drive (in that it disappears from the Finder desktop), but the XP guest OS does not seem to be performing the autodetection that used to occur when I was using Fusion 1.1, even after rebooting and waiting for hours after the drive is connected.
If there are any conditions where it does work
I've not discovered any scenarios under Fusion 2.0 that are successful. The USB Devices panel in the Settings seems to be in order: 'Enable USB 2.0 Support' and 'Automatically Connect USB Devices' are enabled, as well as the drive I'm trying to mount (Connect USB Devices > Seagate RSS FreeAgentDesktop enabled). The ability to view and access the Mac's shared folders is successful, and the dismounted (from Fusion) NTFS external drive is fully readable from the Mac OS Finder.
How often you see the problem (e.g. all the time, sometimes, rarely, etc.)
This issue has been consistent since the upgrade to Fusion 2.0. I occasionally saw it occur in Fusion 1.1 on flawed XP installations, but then there were more substantial problems occurring in those installs.
Has it previously worked in the same setup (e.g. same virtual machine, same computer), and if so, what has changed since then
The only changes I can detect are (1) upgrade from Fusion 1.1 to 2.0, and (2) new install of guest OS, not a migration of an existing guest in v1.1.
How experienced with OS X you are, and comfortable you are with the command line (things can go a lot faster if you know what you're doing, but if you don't say, we have to assume you need lots of hand-holding)
Lightly experienced with the Mac OS Terminal command line, rather experienced with MS-DOS, but totally ignorant if there's a proprietary VMWare command line.
If you're having problems with a guest, include:
Guest operating system e.g. "Windows XP Pro (German)" or "Ubuntu 7.04 64-bit". Be sure to include details (e.g. Home/Pro/Business/Ultimate/etc., 64-bit vs 32-bit, language, etc.) when applicable.
Windows XP Professional (English), 32-bit, SP3 (v5.1, Build 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236), installed with 'Share Home Folder' option enabled. The install is rather baseline, with all current service packs/patches from Microsoft, plus AVG Free 8.0 antivirus.
Whether you have installed VMware Tools, and if so, which version
Yes, default install available with Fusion 2.0, but I'm not certain on how to obtain version number. Its Signing Time is September 10, 2008, 7:55:01 PM, if that's any help.
Whether this is a Boot Camp virtual machine
No, this was a fresh install of the XP guest OS.
Where the virtual machine came from (created in Fusion, created in some other VMware product and copied over, imported from some other format, etc.)
The virtual machine was created anew in Fusion after the 2.0 upgrade.
I hope this information is sufficient to make some headway on resolving this obstacle. Thanks for your time and advice.
